Moon Palace 2012 Brides

[coconoir1908]

Okay,

 

My TA is totally awesome but we also have used her for years during our travel.  Here's the deal with us, is that number 1 our TA is in direct contact with my Miami Coordinator via telephone and email! We will receive all the benefits that a person would do in booking directly with moon palace, in addition we will receive perks from the travel agent itself (based on numbers actually booked).  The only thing that our TA has to do, upon receiving a deposit from anyone is use our group link (that moon supplied to her) to book.  This way we get the best of both worlds.  Yes, our guest will have to put a deposit down (we are not footing anything upfront for anyone besides ourselves). 

 

With that said, our guest have known for months that we were going to have a destination wedding, that we were going to use a local travel agent (to make it easy on those without a computer-our older family members), and that they would have to secure there room with a minimual deposit fo $125.  From there they could make payments as long as the final payment is paid by the due date.  Our guest knew what to expect and the process whether they choose to do it online, or in person is very easy. In addition, we can get a head count of who is actually going versus those that RSVP and know that they aren't.  So I will know up-front if we qualify for a free event etc.. 

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by MoonPalace2012 

Do we have to block rooms? I was not going to. I am just telling my guests to go talk to my travel agent if they want, and if they don't want to, and they just want to book on their own thats fine. I just dont feel like going through the process of booking the rooms and having people pay deposits yet, I feel its just too stressful.

[mochamakes3]

 

 

Originally Posted by MoonPalace2012 

 

Do we have to block rooms? I was not going to. I am just telling my guests to go talk to my travel agent if they want, and if they don't want to, and they just want to book on their own thats fine. I just dont feel like going through the process of booking the rooms and having people pay deposits yet, I feel its just too stressful.

 

The major problem with not blocking rooms is you won't be entitled to the group benefits, like free private cocktail hour, free private events, room comps. MP will give a room block with an online link for booking at no cost. We are only expecting 25 - 30 people but still are managing to get all the private events for free because we have enough room nights booked through our room block. Otherwise, private events start at $400 for every table of 10!

[MoonPalace2012]

Oh okay I didn't know you had to do the room block to qualify for a free event, I just thought that if i had a certain number of people staying there, then I would get a free event ect... I think I may just stick with the way I am doing it, all of my Finace's friends are very unreliable, I know they are all coming but they will all probably book last minute, thats just young guys I guess. If I have to pay for my receiption, I am okay with it.

[SummerDawn]

Im also worried about FI friends and waiting to book... young men are really unreliable lol!

[merrylee]

Oh wow, so they really are "free" private events, I wasn't sure about how that all worked, but that is great to know.

[krsmith]

Ok I just called our Miami contact Janina, and she said that we would have to put a "good faith" deposit down of 2 room nights for my FI and I, then when everyone books, they will have to put down 2 nights stay as their deposit to hold the room. She said she will email me all the info today on rates and what not, but its still not as good as us NOT paying a deposit and our guests only paying $100....BUT its better than what our TA told us. We did get our TA through this site...we were kind of assigned her after I filled out Wright's form when you initially click on it. Hmmmm... I wonder how I can get what you guys seem to be getting?!?!

[krsmith]

Ok got the email sent by Janina, but I SWEAR she told me over the phone we only had to pay 2 nights of our stay to reserve a room block, but the email she sent says that we have to pay for our ENTIRE stay! Basically exactly what our TA wanted too...I'm soooooo confused why mine is so different! 

[coconoir1908]

Krsmith,

 

Many brides have negotiated with the Miami office to reduce the amount by which persons had to put down.    I would try doing that..
 

Originally Posted by krsmith 

Ok got the email sent by Janina, but I SWEAR she told me over the phone we only had to pay 2 nights of our stay to reserve a room block, but the email she sent says that we have to pay for our ENTIRE stay! Basically exactly what our TA wanted too...I'm soooooo confused why mine is so different! 

[krsmith]

I guess that will have to be my next move...AYE I hate negotiating...not a skill I was born with. Maybe that will be my FI job! Any suggestions on how to go about doing that? I don't feel like I have a ton of leverage...
 

Originally Posted by coconoir1908 

Krsmith,

 

Many brides have negotiated with the Miami office to reduce the amount by which persons had to put down.    I would try doing that..
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by krsmith 

Ok got the email sent by Janina, but I SWEAR she told me over the phone we only had to pay 2 nights of our stay to reserve a room block, but the email she sent says that we have to pay for our ENTIRE stay! Basically exactly what our TA wanted too...I'm soooooo confused why mine is so different! 

 

[blondy]

I'm getting married in April of this year. My two cents - We decided not to do a room block, because it seemed to be more expensive for guests than it would be, for instance, booking a flight/hotel package. I recognized that this meant that we would have to pay more for the private events, but I just didn't feel comfortable asking people to spend more than they needed to, especially when they would be traveling all this way. That being said I didn't try to bring the rate down - I don't know if it is negotiable? It may be worth trying that avenue.